Day 4 - the longest day

Last night I saw the northern lights again. No, not the Aurora Borealis, but the display as I got into bed. Let me explain - in these cold temperatures, much of the moisture is frozen out of the air and so there is tremendous build up of static. In the dark, you get something like sheet lightning as you turn over in bed when you first get in. The latest trend in cross country skis is to add graphite to the base, to discharge the static and so as not to attract particles that will cause drag and slow you down. And I was reminded of this when I picked up my skis last night, wearing well insulated shoes - the shock was about the strength of an electric fencing unit.

 So to the skiing. The first question is how to start - wait for the official bus to the start at 7:30, or leave as some do and ski down and get off early. That extra 15 minutes can make a huge difference at the end of the day. Someone did point out a flaw in the skiing down plan - because you will be doing this on a groomed downhill slope that has frozen further overnight, you run the risk of wearing off a lot of the wax from your skis. Her alternative is to walk down. I took the bus - setting off early last time coincidentally meant that after the first stop, I was not with anyone in sight and went wrong missing the turn (not that I was the only one).

 The skiing (for me) was fairly uneventful. This year I am finally into holding my poles correctly (instinctively) - using them for propulsion, with a loose hand grip, instead of gripping them tightly and using them for balance. For one long section, I kept pace with one of the most experienced older skiers, until I caught an edge on a downhill section. I got to the last checkpoint around something like 17:25 which meant that I should just make it in the fading light.

 Fate, however, had other ideas. About 30 minutes later, in the fading light, a snowstorm hit. Trying to see pink ribbon every few hundred metres now became difficult, and so I had to really slow my pace down. The snow had obliterated the tracks, but I have had practice at feeling my way in the tracks on several occasions; it is just slower. Somehow, some parts of this section did not seem familiar - either it had changed or on the two previous occasions, fatigue had erased it from my mind. When I got to the lake, it was not possible to see which direction to go. So I tried the tracks to the left, but could not find markers. In retracing, the snow eased and I thought I could now see the first mark out on the lake. To be sure, I now took out the GPS which I had programmed with waypoints from a previous trip, and thus was now able to be more comfortable heading in that direction, and sure enough, picked up the trail again. Had it not been for this slowdown, I would have made it by around 18:30 instead of just after 19:00. There were a couple came in after me, including someone who broke two teeth on a piece of chocolate. It is surprising how hard things become in these temperatures.

A number of people said that it was about an hour slower than last year, which accords with my feeling. Still 87km and not being completely shattered as on previous occasions is an improvement. Roll on the next challenge.